Alexander Isak of Liverpool looks on during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD3 match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Liverpool FC at Frankfurt Stadion on October 22, 2025 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)placeholder image
Alexander Isak of Liverpool looks on during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD3 match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Liverpool FC at Frankfurt Stadion on October 22, 2025 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images) | Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Alexander Isak, Ryan Gravenberch and Curtis Jones are missing for Liverpool along with several senior players against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup.
Arne Slot has rung the changes for Liverpool’s clash against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup fourth round.
The Reds head into the game after four successive Premier League defeats, leaving them seven points behind leaders Arsenal. Following a 3-2 loss to Brentford last weekend, there was some debate among fans how Liverpool should line-up against Palace.
Rather than field a strong XI and try to build confidence, head coach Slot has instead rested the majority of his main players including Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Florian Wirtz and Dominik Szoboszlai.
The only senior players who feature are Milos Kerkez - the only member of the squad who keeps his spot from the Brentford reverse - Andy Robertson, Joe Gomez, Alexis Mac Allister, Wataru Endo and Federico Chiesa.
Ryan Gravenberch and Alexander Isak remain absent for Liverpool. Gravenberch has missed the past two games with an ankle issue that the Reds have not been overly concerned about. And after coming off at half-time in the 5-1 win over Eintracht Frakfurt in the Champions League, Alexander Isak is again not involved.
It remains to be seen whether the pair will return to face Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday. The Reds then have a huge double-header against Real Madrid and Manchester City.
Curtis Jones, who was withdrawn at Brentford with a suspected groin problem, also does not feature against Palace.
Speaking ahead of the clash against the Eagles, Slot said: "People who know this club and have followed this club for a few years know that in this competition we also use this for our younger players, we want to create a pathway for them to play in front of 60,000 people, in front of our own fans. That's one of the reasons.
"The other reason is, we only have four or five injuries but if I have to play again the same players... I think there are multiple reasons why we lost so many games and with all the reasons, still no excuses to lose so many, but it hasn't of course been helpful that almost every time we were only two days in between the games we had to play after we had to play away from home, and then again an away game.
"So, if we keep playing the same players - like, for example, I tried with Alexander Isak - [and] with players that missed out on pre-season, that is a big risk of another injury. And we only have at this moment of time 15, 16 senior players available."
Alisson Becker and Jeremie Frimpong (both hamstring) are set to be unavailable against Villa while Giovanni Leoni will not play again this season after rupturing his ACL.
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